World

U.S. removes some staff from consulate in northern Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has removed some staff from its consulate in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region that is under threat from Islamist militants, the State Department said on Sunday.

"The Department of State has relocated a limited number of staff members from the Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Arbil to the Consulate General in Basra and the Iraq Support Unit in Amman. The Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Arbil remain open and operating," the department said in a travel advisory.

In June, the United States said it had moved some staff from the giant U.S. embassy in Baghdad to Arbil, which previously had been known for better security than the Iraqi capital, to the southern city of Basra and to Amman, Jordan.